The eagle and the hart The tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV

Noted historian Castor (Joan of Arc, 2015) vividly chronicles the turbulent reigns of royal cousins born in 1367. One had birthright, the other the temperament of a sovereign. They were ten when Richard ascended the English throne. Raised in a "cocoon" of lavish majesty, Richard craved personal status and privilege and was absorbed in the performance over the substance of ruling. Wary and resentful of the great lords' authority, notably that of his royal uncle and Henry's father, John of Gaunt, Richard endlessly schemed to amass power, ignoring constitutional order and ruling by "claustrophobic terror." In 1399, Henry, returning from exile, usurped Richard's throne and. over a 14-year reign, "white-knuckled" a fractured nation back from the brink. Castor eloquently frames nearly four decades of internal strife and foreign wars in an extensively sourced "study of the psychology of power." Richard was an isolated, narcissistic tyrant; Henry a soldier, dutiful steward of family and realm, a man of "fine and savage judgment." As Castor notes, Richard and Henry's tragic story has uncanny resonance in the current political moment.

The divine right of kings squares off against pragmatic politicking in this labyrinthine dual biography. Historian Castor (Joan of Arc) recaps the fraught relationship between Richard II, who ruled England from 1377 to 1399, and his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, who overthrew Richard and took the throne as Henry IV. Richard's reign is a study in foolish autocracy, in Castor's telling: he spent extravagantly on his court and on numerous failed military expeditions, and when Parliament balked at paying for it all, he took it as an affront to his sacred royal prerogative. (He had member of Parliament condemned to death just for recommending cost-cutting measures.) Henry sometimes supported and sometimes opposed Richard's increasingly bloody rule and claims of unlimited power, but after the king exiled him, he rallied England to depose and ultimately kill Richard. Henry's triumph soon soured as he, like Richard, faced wars abroad, internal rebellions, and endless squabbling with Parliament, but unlike Richard, Castor contends, Henry responded to challenges with compromise and conciliation. Castor turns the chaos of medieval politics, with its kaleidoscope of personal loyalties, into a lucid narrative set in a colorful panorama of chivalric tournaments and outlandish fashions. (Henry had an outfit made of 12,000 squirrel pelts, Castor reports.) The result is a captivating portrait of a tumultuous age when modern political sensibilities started to disrupt ancient ruling philosophies. (Oct.)

In a psychological portrait of two medieval kings, a British historian revisits a tragedy familiar from Shakespeare. The political crisis culminating in the deposition of Richard II in 1399 by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, ignited the issue of sovereign legitimacy between the houses of York and Lancaster for the next 85 years. In her probing work in four parts, with chapters titled after lines from the Shakespeare plays, Castor delves into the upbringing and character of these two very different men: Richard, the effete "spare," becomes king at age 10 after the successive deaths of his older brother, father (the celebrated Black Prince), and grandfather Edward III in 1377, and his swashbuckling cousin Henry, son of the ambitious, influential John of Gaunt. It is a time of constant tension and war between England and France, as well as internal rebellions, and Richard's incessant need of money creates tensions with the Commons in Parliament. Richard's ennobling of his favorites and increasingly imperious tone prompt the actions of the so-called Lords Appellant, including Henry. The author adds a "Directory of the Main Players" at the end as many have different names from those in Shakespeare's plays. Richard's calculated revenge on these men eight years later and Henry's ultimate challenge to Richard's authority mark what Castor calls "a moment of political masculinity in crisis." Castor follows Henry IV through his brief "white-knuckled" reign and emphasizes that the era's "themes of power, legitimacy, and the limits of rule and resistance are as urgent now as they have ever been." Astute, multilayered drama offers valuable insights into a fraught era. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.